Yoichiro Nambu, a University of Chicago professor, is a Nobel prize winner for his discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics. He has also won such awards such as the US National Medal of Science, Dirac Medal, Sakurai Prize and the Wolf Prize in Physics. Yoichiro is also known for his study of superconductivity that has “have helped redefine the field and continue to be explored by researchers and
Image courtesy of the University of Chicago
laboratories throughout the world. He is still asking the questions that animate further discovery,”[3]. In 1955, Albert Einstein laid dying, writing equations trying to reach his goal of a unified field theory tying together all forces of nature, this was not achievable. It was later more reachable for a young Japanese physicist who he had recently met. Yoichiro had spent some time with Einstein then moved on to the University of Chicago where he began studying superconductivity, a phenomenon in which a material offers no resistance to an electrical current, and discovered that it could be explained using a concept called "spontaneous symmetry breaking."
Insight and Influences
Yoichiro was born 1921, in Tokyo, Japan. He grew up in the provincial city of Fukui. When we was two the city was destroyed by a violent earthquake. His dad became a school teacher and had brought back an eclectic library. Browsing there, his growing boy learned of ideas that allowed him to flee the excruciating regimen at the local school. Yoichiro studied physics at the Imperial University of Tokyo from 1940 to 1942, graduating at the level of M.S. After that he was drafted into an army radar labratory. In 1946, after the war was over, Nambu returned to the University of Tokyo as a research associate. He recieved a doctorate in 1952. In 1950 he became professor at Osaka City University, he was there until 1956, but from 1952 to 1954 he stayed at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as a member, and from 1954 to 1956 at the University of Chicago as a research associate. He was made associate professor at Chicago in 1956, professor in 1958, and Distinguished Service Professor in 1971. From 1973 to 1976 he served as chairman of the department of physics. In 1976 he became Henry Judson Distinguished Professor, from which position he retired in 1991 and became Emeritus.
He is married to Chieko Hida and they have a son named Jun-ichi. Nambu has been a citizen of the United States of America since 1970. He holds honorary degrees from Osaka City University, Northwestern University, and Osaka University. He has been a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1971, and an honorary member of the Japan Academy since 1984. "My interests in physics have been mainly on the theoretical side. The University of Tokyo was good in condensed matter physics, but I was more attracted to nuclear and particle physics where names like Nishina, Tomonaga, and Yukawa in other institutions were making great contributions. As a student I was exposed to cosmic ray and particle physics by attending seminars held by Nishina and Tomonaga at their laboratory nearby"[1] said Nambu. Nambu started his research career at the time when Tomonaga was developing his theory of renormalization, for which he would receive the Nobel Prize. He was able to approach Tomonaga's group and start working on his theory and other topics in particle physics. At his recommendation Nambu obtained the position at Osaka City University and later was invited to the Institute for Advanced Study.
Major Contributions
Nabmu's most known for his study in spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). He relized that when a situation occurs that defies symmetry, a new particle is born. This led to the discovery of a large amount of particles. A major task of the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator near Geneva that was turned on last year, will be to search for a particle known as the Higgs boson that, according to Nambu's theory, is responsible for breaking the symmetry between electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force. Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a situation in which the solution of a set of physical equations fails to exhibit a symmetry possessed by the equations themselves; an example is a magnet, in which the underlying equations describing the metal do not distinguish any direction of space from any other, but the magnet certainly does, since it points in some definite direction. He is also considered one of the founders of the string theory and has also has concepts on quark color.
Affect and Effect
Nambu had a lot of influences in his life. His father opened the doors for Yoichiro to start into physics. When Nambu was in at a college in Tokyo in 1937. Of his courses, physics caused him special trouble: "I couldn't understand entropy and flunked thermodynamics"[1] . Yet, possibly inspired by Hideki Yukawa, the pioneer who realized that particles transmit force, Nambu chose to aim for a master's in physics at Tokyo University but the academic program turned out to be short. The class graduated six months early so that its members could be drafted. After a year of moving boats and digging trenches, Nambu was moved to help develop shortwavelength radar. During the war, Nambu seemed to have it good, his unit was housed in a golf club and he was falling for his assistant, Chieko Hida, but one night he watched some b-29's fly over Osaka. For a change, they did not drop their bombs on the city but moved on to Fukui. Nambu lost his grandparents, his parents were spared. After the war Nambu and Hida married. Nambu left to take up a research position and Hida stayed to look after her mom. Nambu lived in the laboratory were he worked, gas and electricity were free, and he could bathe in the water basin intended for extinguishing fires. After moving to Osaka City University in 1949, Nambu published a formula describing how two particles bind, known as the Bethe-Salpeter equation. With many others, he also predicted that strange particles should be created in pairs, a discovery usually attributed to Abraham Pais. In 1957, after having moved to Chicago, he proposed a new particle and met with ridicule. "In a pig's eye!" Richard Feynman shouted at the conference, Laurie M. Brown of Northwestern University recalls[1]. The omega was discovered the next year, in an accelerator. Meanwhile Nambu had heard J. Robert Schrieffer describe the theory of superconductivity that he had just devised with John Bardeen and Leon N. Cooper. The talk disturbed Nambu; the superconducting fluid did not conserve the number of particles, violating an essential symmetry of nature. It took him two years to figure it out. "Imagine a dog faced with two bowls of equally enticing food. Being identical, the bowls present a twofold symmetry. Yet the dog arbitrarily picks one bowl. Unable to accept that the symmetry is entirely lost, Nambu discovered that the dog, in effect, cannot make up her mind and constantly switches from one bowl to the other. By the laws of quantum physics, the oscillation comes to life as a new particle, a boson"[1].
Legacy
Nambu will be noted for his theories in spontaneous symmetry breaking and superconductors. Some of them are being tested today at some of the worlds leading facilities, including the new particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva. He is also credited with studies in superconductors. He also found that quarks act as if they are connected by strings, an idea that became the foundation of string theory. Nambu's theories will still be tested for generations to come. If scientist ever do find that everything is made up of tiny vibrating strings Nambu will be one of the people credited for that discovery.
Table of Contents
Yoichiro Nambu
Yoichiro Nambu, a University of Chicago professor, is a Nobel prize winner for his discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics. He has also won such awards such as the US National Medal of Science, Dirac Medal, Sakurai Prize and the Wolf Prize in Physics. Yoichiro is also known for his study of superconductivity that has “have helped redefine the field and continue to be explored by researchers andInsight and Influences
Yoichiro was born 1921, in Tokyo, Japan. He grew up in the provincial city of Fukui. When we was two the city was destroyed by a violent earthquake. His dad became a school teacher and had brought back an eclectic library. Browsing there, his growing boy learned of ideas that allowed him to flee the excruciating regimen at the local school. Yoichiro studied physics at the Imperial University of Tokyo from 1940 to 1942, graduating at the level of M.S. After that he was drafted into an army radar labratory. In 1946, after the war was over, Nambu returned to the University of Tokyo as a research associate. He recieved a doctorate in 1952. In 1950 he became professor at Osaka City University, he was there until 1956, but from 1952 to 1954 he stayed at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as a member, and from 1954 to 1956 at the University of Chicago as a research associate. He was made associate professor at Chicago in 1956, professor in 1958, and Distinguished Service Professor in 1971. From 1973 to 1976 he served as chairman of the department of physics. In 1976 he became Henry Judson Distinguished Professor, from which position he retired in 1991 and became Emeritus.
He is married to Chieko Hida and they have a son named Jun-ichi. Nambu has been a citizen of the United States of America since 1970. He holds honorary degrees from Osaka City University, Northwestern University, and Osaka University. He has been a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1971, and an honorary member of the Japan Academy since 1984. "My interests in physics have been mainly on the theoretical side. The University of Tokyo was good in condensed matter physics, but I was more attracted to nuclear and particle physics where names like Nishina, Tomonaga, and Yukawa in other institutions were making great contributions. As a student I was exposed to cosmic ray and particle physics by attending seminars held by Nishina and Tomonaga at their laboratory nearby"[1] said Nambu. Nambu started his research career at the time when Tomonaga was developing his theory of renormalization, for which he would receive the Nobel Prize. He was able to approach Tomonaga's group and start working on his theory and other topics in particle physics. At his recommendation Nambu obtained the position at Osaka City University and later was invited to the Institute for Advanced Study.
Major Contributions
Nabmu's most known for his study in spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). He relized that when a situation occurs that defies symmetry, a new particle is born. This led to the discovery of a large amount of particles. A major task of the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator near Geneva that was turned on last year, will be to search for a particle known as the Higgs boson that, according to Nambu's theory, is responsible for breaking the symmetry between electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force. Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a situation in which the solution of a set of physical equations fails to exhibit a symmetry possessed by the equations themselves; an example is a magnet, in which the underlying equations describing the metal do not distinguish any direction of space from any other, but the magnet certainly does, since it points in some definite direction. He is also considered one of the founders of the string theory and has also has concepts on quark color.Affect and Effect
Nambu had a lot of influences in his life. His father opened the doors for Yoichiro to start into physics. When Nambu was in at a college in Tokyo in 1937. Of his courses, physics caused him special trouble: "I couldn't understand entropy and flunked thermodynamics"[1] . Yet, possibly inspired by Hideki Yukawa, the pioneer who realized that particles transmit force, Nambu chose to aim for a master's in physics at Tokyo University but the academic program turned out to be short. The class graduated six months early so that its members could be drafted. After a year of moving boats and digging trenches, Nambu was moved to help develop shortwavelength radar. During the war, Nambu seemed to have it good, his unit was housed in a golf club and he was falling for his assistant, Chieko Hida, but one night he watched some b-29's fly over Osaka. For a change, they did not drop their bombs on the city but moved on to Fukui. Nambu lost his grandparents, his parents were spared. After the war Nambu and Hida married. Nambu left to take up a research position and Hida stayed to look after her mom. Nambu lived in the laboratory were he worked, gas and electricity were free, and he could bathe in the water basin intended for extinguishing fires. After moving to Osaka City University in 1949, Nambu published a formula describing how two particles bind, known as the Bethe-Salpeter equation. With many others, he also predicted that strange particles should be created in pairs, a discovery usually attributed to Abraham Pais. In 1957, after having moved to Chicago, he proposed a new particle and met with ridicule. "In a pig's eye!" Richard Feynman shouted at the conference, Laurie M. Brown of Northwestern University recalls[1]. The omega was discovered the next year, in an accelerator. Meanwhile Nambu had heard J. Robert Schrieffer describe the theory of superconductivity that he had just devised with John Bardeen and Leon N. Cooper. The talk disturbed Nambu; the superconducting fluid did not conserve the number of particles, violating an essential symmetry of nature. It took him two years to figure it out. "Imagine a dog faced with two bowls of equally enticing food. Being identical, the bowls present a twofold symmetry. Yet the dog arbitrarily picks one bowl. Unable to accept that the symmetry is entirely lost, Nambu discovered that the dog, in effect, cannot make up her mind and constantly switches from one bowl to the other. By the laws of quantum physics, the oscillation comes to life as a new particle, a boson"[1].
Legacy
Nambu will be noted for his theories in spontaneous symmetry breaking and superconductors. Some of them are being tested today at some of the worlds leading facilities, including the new particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva. He is also credited with studies in superconductors. He also found that quarks act as if they are connected by strings, an idea that became the foundation of string theory. Nambu's theories will still be tested for generations to come. If scientist ever do find that everything is made up of tiny vibrating strings Nambu will be one of the people credited for that discovery.
References
1.http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=profile-yoichiro-nambu&page=1
2.http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893209_1893461,00.html
3.http://news.uchicago.edu/nobel08/physicslaureate.php
4.http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2008/nambu-autobio.html